"Are you guys all ready for bed?" The sound of a soft voice filled the small, plainly furnished bedroom. There was not much in the small room, peach walls, tan carpet that was stained with juice and food, a set of beds, one covered in small rockets and spaceships, the other printed with Disney princesses, and a toy chest in the corner by the only window in the room. Sophia smiled down at her younger brother and sister, they were all dressed up in their mismatched pajamas, grinning at her.

"Can't we stay up? I mean, I am seven now." Her brother said bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement, his dark brown hair jumping about his slim face.

Sophia laughed quietly and shook her head, her brown curls bouncing about lightly, "But your sister is only five, so no." She said scooting them to their beds. Their beds were side by side with a small nightstand between them for separation. She pulled up the chair from the corner of their room and sat it between their beds. As they got comfortable, she did as well. It was routine for her to tell them stories before bed, it was something they all could look forward to.

Sophia crossed her leg over the other and leaned forward, "What story do you want to hear today?" She asked. The two young children were silent for a moment before Olivia glanced out the window, she perked up, her bright eyes lighting up and waved her hands about like a mad-woman, Sophia laughed, "Go ahead."

Olivia smiled, showing her two missing front teeth, "Snowing, tell us a story about snow!"

Leaning back in the creaky wooden chair Sophia ran her fingers through the ends of her hair trying to think of something. She had already told them Frosty the Snowman, she didn't know many snow stories. "I don't know, Ollie, I don't think I know any." She admitted sadly, not wanting to disappoint her sister.

"Mrs. Hyde told us all at school to keep warm of Jack Frost would eat our noses! Tell that!"

Sophia laughed again. "I think you mean nip at your nose, not eat it. Jack Frost probably isn't into eating kid's noses." Or maybe he was. She didn't know much about Jack Frost and wasn't sure she could tell them an entire story about him. "I have a better idea, I want you two to make up a story about Jack Frost and tell me all about it tomorrow. How's that?"

Her brother frowned. "You just don't know what to say." He accused accurately.

She laughed nervously, her brother was so perceptive it was irritating from time to time. "Well if you aren't up to the challenge, I guess I can just tell you what I know..." She examined her coral colored fingernails as if bored.

"No! We will tell you about him tomorrow!" He said quickly, he always fell for that.

"Is he really real, sissy?" Olivia asked quietly, fidgeting with her blankets, Sophia could see the hope in her eyes and it made her heart wretch.

"Of course," she said all too quickly. "You just have to do a little believing, I'm sure he'll even come visit you tonight if you do a good job on your story." She said confidently.

Her brother scoffed, "Yeah, right. He's probably like Santa, only comes when you sleep."

Sophia stood from the chair quickly and made her way to their window. "He isn't like Santa at all," she said unlocking the window and pulling it open with a small grunt. The house wasn't very big, a simple two story that was poorly decorated inside and hardly noticeable from the sidewalk. A simple dark blue that let it blend well into the darkness. Taking a deep breath, Sophia gathered her nerves knowing what she was about to do was a bad idea but if it would leave her siblings with pleasant dreams she didn't care.

"Jack!" She hollered out the window, using her hands to cup her mouth. "Jack Frost! Don't forget about Timmy and Olivia!" Something in her had her eyes searching the street and sky for him. She knew she was too old to believe in any of the things she told her brother and sister, but there was a part of her that couldn't let go. Maybe that was why it was so easy for her to get them to believe as well, because she did. "You have some believers that deserve a visit, Jack! Please don't forget!" She put her hands on the window and took one last look in the sky before closing it.

Turning to her siblings she grinned. "That should do it, just believe really hard that he'll show up and I promise you he will." She said walking to their bedsides and kissing them both on the foreheads. "I love the both of you, sleep we-" The bedroom door suddenly flew open, crashing into the wall, shaking the picture of the two siblings in Easter clothing on the wall. Sophia felt her heart jump into her throat and she spun around to assess how much trouble she was in. She could feel all the blood in her body rush to her face leaving her limbs cold. She swallowed hard watching the statuous man stagger into the room. He towered over her at a whopping 6'4", and was easily three-hundred pounds to her measly 5'6", one hundred and fifteen pounds.

"The hell you yellin' fo'?" He growled. Sophia glanced at her siblings and saw they both had their eyes closed unusually tight for sleeping, but she knew they weren't. They knew what to do when he was this way, their father the drunk.

She turned her attention back to her father, Robert. "I-I'm sorry dad, there were kids throwing snowballs at the car, I was telling them to stop." She lied.

"Bullshit," he snarled grabbing for her in his drunken stupor. Sophia jumped back and out of his reach before darting past him and into the hall towards her bedroom. His thundering steps behind her sent fear through her bones but she kept moving. Turning the corner she reached her hand out for her doorknob and pushed the door open but before she could make it into her room she felt his thick hand snatch her up by the hair. She cried out and reached her hands back, wrapping her small fingers around his wrist in hopes she could pry it off.

"I'll give you a reason to yell in the middle of the night!" He spat as he tossed her to the ground. She hit the floor with a thud, her forehead meeting the edge of her bed. She dizzily turned around to face him trying to shake the haze from her eyes. When her vision cleared she looked up at him only to see his fist flying towards her. She screamed before it even made contact with her, anticipating the pain. Her voice left her when she felt the hot searing pain radiate around her eye, making her feel faint.

"Stop! Please, stop!" She felt tears streaming down her face, the eyeliner and mascara she had been wearing was running down her face, staining her olive skin. Grabbing her by her hair and pulling her to the floor he held her close to his face, the alcohol was so strong it made her stomach churn.

"I don't want to hear you for the rest of the night." he growled, tossing her carelessly into her nightstand. She tried to hold on to balance herself but still ended up on the floor.

She didn't bother getting up again while he remained there knowing she would only get beaten more. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed on the floor. What had become of her father? He hadn't always been that way, she could remember a time where she was sure he loved her. The beatings weren't as bad as the things he said or the things he didn't say anymore. But she had to endure it, for her sibling's sake. If she didn't take it, she was sure he would move onto them and she couldn't bear the thought of him putting his hands on them. They were so innocent, she had to protect that.

It seemed like forever before he finally left, slamming the door behind him. After a moment she slowly got off the floor. Her room was like her siblings. Not very large, tan carpets, a bed in the corner, and white walls. It wasn't a room though, not to her at least. To her it was a prison. She was almost never allowed to leave the house and the only reason she ever got too was to keep up appearances. Her father was paranoid the neighbors would start to suspect something if his children never left the house. Especially after he had taken her out of school, forcing her to get her GED so she could stay at home and take care of everything her mother use to, before she passed...

Pushing herself off the ground she made her way to her window, pushing it open and climbing out, letting the chilled night air greet her burning skin. Grabbing onto the thick tree branch that grew too close to her window, she got onto the branch and used the tree to get down to the freshly fallen snow. Black shorts and a grey sweatshirt with black sleeves hung onto her body poorly, letting the night air dance on her skin, giving her goosebumps. There was nothing she could do, no one she could turn to for help. She was going to be stuck in that house until she died, just like her mother.

The thought brought more tears to her eyes but she swallowed them down and made her way down the road to the frozen lake kids would skate on during this time of year. It was her favorite place to go when she needed to get away. She wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped carefully down the snowy hill. It was such a beautiful night out, regardless of it being freezing. She liked winter, everything was so calm. Standing before the frozen lake she looked up to the sky and sighed. "Oh Jack, please watch over my brother and sister." she whispered out.

"That's easy enough, especially since they are passed out in bed. But who is going to look out for you?" A soft, but deep male voice crept into Sophia's ears causing her to jump and turn around quickly to see who had spoken. She didn't see anyone which freaked her out even more.

"H-hello?" She called out, clenching her fists and bringing them close to her chest waiting for a silent attack.

"Can you hear me?" The voice asked.

"I must be going crazy." She said feeling her skin crawl with unease.

"No, you aren't." The voice said amused. "Take a guess at who I am."

Sophia frowned. "I'm not going to play games with a ghost." She declined.

The voice laughed. "I'm not a ghost." He corrected. "And you called me, remember?"

Her eyes widened and her hands fell to her side. "Jack Frost?"

((Let me know what you think.))